CVE-2020-11080 - CVE House
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Status published Low CVE-2020-11080

Denial of service in nghttp2

Vulnerability Description

In nghttp2 before version 1.41.0, the overly large HTTP/2 SETTINGS frame payload causes denial of service. The proof of concept attack involves a malicious client constructing a SETTINGS frame with a length of 14,400 bytes (2400 individual settings entries) over and over again. The attack causes the CPU to spike at 100%. nghttp2 v1.41.0 fixes this vulnerability. There is a workaround to this vulnerability. Implement nghttp2_on_frame_recv_callback callback, and if received frame is SETTINGS frame and the number of settings entries are large (e.g., > 32), then drop the connection.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

References

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CVE-2016-1544
nghttp2 before 1.7.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial...
Low 3.3

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

nghttp2
Vulnerable Versions:
< 1.41.0

Timeline

Official Publish: June 3rd, 2020
Last Modified: June 9th, 2025
Added to House: July 21st, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-707

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application
Initial Access
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter
Execution
T1071 Application Layer Protocol
Command and Control
T1565 Data Manipulation
Impact
T1005 Data from Local System
Collection